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Problems up in the cervical (neck) region can definitely cause problems lower down. All the nerves run through the spinal cord up there and on to other locations. There are nerve connections from the spinal cord down into the limbs and other extremities, but all the upper motor neurons run from the brain on down the spinal cord and pass through the cervical region where the syrinxes most often are. So obviously problems up here - pressure, kinks, etc. -- can cause problems in the lower part of the body as well as the front half.

That is weird that Maxx's syrinxes are down at the base of his spine -- down by his tail?? I've never heard of that.

The study I"m taking Rory to is just looking at the skull area. She kept saying they are looking for the chiari?? I assume she meant chiari malformation... If he has it i'm sure i'll have to redo the MRI which is annoying...

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
--Roger Caras

MRI

Yes, I've read that sometimes the scratching can be specific to times of day, weather, etc. My vet asked those kinds of questions, but Abbey's is the typical excitement situation--when we come home from work, when she gets in from going potty (treat time), etc.

I think often it can be worse in mornings because they have been sedentary then when they start moving it creates some pressure and they get the immediate sensation and then scratch. That said allergies can do this and also PSOM would likely be more noticeable when they first wake and 'notice' it again.

Lorraine I didn't notice Ricky had too odd a stance; he was just very long-backed. I kept an eye on him for the several days he was here and he seemed fine; nothing noticeable.

Rory the syrinxes often go all the way down the spine kind of like a string of pearls. If they are extensive then often the neuros feel the dog is not a candidate for surgery. I think if they are doing the skull MRI it will take in the neck area too which should reveal any syrinxes to you. It is rare for them to be only at the end of the spine and not to start from the top where the pressure first builds. Thats says someone on the Chiari list has definite SM symptoms with ONLY the malformation and no syrinxes at all. It seems symtpoms are often not related to the severity of the syrinxes at all. Some really severely affected dogs have had few outward symptoms and vice versa. It is such a msytery as a condition...